Thursday, 25 November 2010

Determined to Remember the Dead

He is now angry at how the government is handling the aftermath of theShanghai fire last week that killed at least 58 people and injuredmany others.

This past weekend in an unprecedented impromptu move, tens ofthousands of people carried chrysanthemums and white flowers to thesite of the fire to pay their respects to the dead.

Now the government is revealing some of the names of the victims, butAi doesn't think it is doing enough.

"We have decided to investigate the identities of all the people whodied in the fire," he said. "There are already volunteers on theground in Shanghai, collecting information."

On Tuesday the government claimed that one-third of the victims'families did not want their names made public which fired up Ai.

"I was exceedingly angry when I saw that on the news this morning," hesaid. "The government always says it needs to get the relatives'permission to release the names of the victims, but this is just ajoke."

He believes this excuse just fuels speculation that the true number ofvictims in last Monday's horrific fire could be higher than 58.

At a press conference Tuesday, the municipal government announced eachvictim's family would receive 960,000RMB ($144,306). However, Shanghaigovernment spokesman Chen Qiwei said the authorities were not preparedto release a full list of the dead.

"In order to publish a list of the victims' names, we need first toget the victims' relatives' permission," he explained. "At the currentpoint of consultation, over one-third of the relatives are not willingfor a victims' name list to be published."

Ai says this is stock answer is not unusual; it is typically used in"any kind of disaster" -- coal mining accidents, floods, fires orearthquakes.

"They never release the identities of those killed, so there is no wayof checking the figures," he said. "But the compensation will be paidusing public money. The people have a right to know who is receivingthis money."

Ai has a point here. And wouldn't the victims' families want others toknow their loved one died tragically? Don't they want to be accountedfor?

"I believe it is part of the government's job to provide open accessto information," Ai continued. "I don't think it should be up tocertain people to decide how much to release."

Compiling lists is not new to Ai. After the May 12 Sichuan earthquakein 2008, he and other volunteers created a list of the children killedafter officials refused to provide full statistics. Ai's list isprobably not complete.

And for his public-service actions, Ai was beaten by police in Chengduin August last year when he wanted to attend the trial of Tan Zuoren,who was investigating the shoddily-built buildings. Ai had to undergoemergency cranial surgery in Germany to ease the swelling in hisbrain. It was a life-saving procedure.

Most recently Ai was under house arrest in Beijing when he had planneda "river crab" party to celebrate the demolition of his newly-builtstudio in Shanghai.

Despite this, Ai is undeterred about his latest project.

"I don't believe this will cause me any problems," he said. "They arealready demanding I demolish my studio, so there is nothing more theycan do."